Now, 13 million or so sales later, the Apple gadget is at the top of the list of gadgets that children 6 to 12 want to see under the tree this year, according to Nielsen research.

And it's starting to get some company.

In a field of tablets running Google's Android operating system, the Samsung Galaxy has emerged as the iPad's chief rival. Early this month, Samsung said that the tab had sold 1 million units since its launch in October.

And Research In Motion, the makers of BlackBerry, plan to join the battle early next year with the Playbook, which they're already touting as being more efficient than the iPad.

Tablets don't have the computing heft of slightly larger laptops or the pocket-size storage of a smartphone. But their video, gaming, Web-surfing and media-consumption abilities are capturing a big audience and it's a safe bet they're here to stay.

We are Facebook; resistance is futile

A major Hollywood movie. A Time magazine "Person of the Year" nod for its CEO. And a half-billion users, more or less.

Facebook passed Google this year to become the Web's most-visited site.

If Facebook was already a force of internet nature on New Year's Day, it became a phenomenon unmatched in Web history in 2010.

The rise of Facebook was the subject of Aaron Sorkin's "The Social Network," which has grossed more than $90 million. It also was a key element of the lesser-known, but arguably more intriguing, "Catfish."

Some tech bloggers predicted the unflinching and often-fictionalized movie would hurt founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's reputation. Instead, he seems to have been catapulted to an even higher level of celebrity.

Of course the billions of dollars he's donating to charity didn't hurt. In September, Zuckerberg -- who, at 26, has an estimated net worth of $6.9 billion -- pledged $100 million to Newark, New Jersey, schools. Then he trumped that this month with a pledge to donate more than half his wealth to charities during, or after, his lifetime.

But personalities aside, the site itself continued to integrate itself into everyday life. E-mail continued to wane because of Facebook messaging, which included a new ramped-up system. And the way we relate to each other has probably been changed forever. (Hey, when a pastor is telling his entire congregation to quit you, you know you've arrived.)

Check in, turn on, go out

In 2009, the concept of mobile check-in apps was just emerging. In 2010, it took off.

Growing with the rising number of smartphones, social apps such as Foursquare and Gowalla creeped out of the tiny cloister of the tech elite and into the mainstream.

The concept of checking in at bars, restaurants and other spots appeals mainly to a young, social crowd, and, in the minds of some, raises privacy concerns.

But a spate of apps for homebodies followed in 2010. Mobile apps such as GetGlue, Miso and Philo let users check in to TV shows, movies, books and other entertainment, earning virtual and sometimes real-word rewards along the way.

According to Crowley, one of the goals of such apps is to turn the whole world into a game. Most Web users haven't signed on yet, but the number of those who have keeps on growing.

Look, Ma! No hands!

The way we play video games began what could be a seismic shift in 2010. And there were no paddles or joysticks involved.

Microsoft's Kinect system for the Xbox 360 took the greatest leap forward. Rolled out at the E3 video-game expo in June, the Kinect is totally hands-free, using a camera to read the player's movements and incorporate them in the game.

Microsoft's Kinect system uses a camera to read the player's movements and incorporate them into the game.

And then there's Nintendo. The pioneers of motion-based gaming stood pat on the hardware this year, but pressed its early advantage by rolling out more complex, fully-imagined games such as "Metroid: Other M," "Disney: Epic Mickey" and "GoldenEye 007."

Watching the Web on TV

Tech-savvy couch potatoes have been rigging their networks to push Web content onto their televisions for a while.

But in 2010, some of the biggest names in technology, as well as some savvy upstarts, got into the Web TV game in a big way.

At the front of the pack? Google and Apple.

Google TV launched this year and struck deals with HBO, Pandora and Netflix.

Apple TV was launched in 2007, but it mostly languished until it got a reboot and a major price cut in September. In addition to Netflix integration, the system lets users buy TV shows for 99 cents each.

Google has promised a similar system -- optimizing Web sites for TV and striking deals with the likes of HBO, Pandora and Netflix. Google TV has hit some snags. Several major networks aren't playing along, and The New York Times recently reported that it needs more time than expected to work on software.

Meanwhile, companies such as Roku and Boxee are offering similar devices, suggesting that Web TV, in one form or another, is here to stay.

The saga of the iPhone 4

Oh, iPhone 4. Rarely has the launch of a gadget provided more suspense or entertainment than Apple's June unveiling of the latest in its popular smartphone line.

First things first. The phone has been a hit, selling millions of units.

But not without some drama.

First, there was the riveting saga of the beer-hall iPhone. After an Apple employee reportedly left a prototype, disguised as an iPhone 3GS, at a California beer garden in April, someone snagged it.

The iPhone 4 was unveiled in June, but there were some complaints about its reception strength.

Police raids, bitter recriminations and the phone's eventual return followed. And that was all before the thing was even released.

Perhaps the most unkind cut came when Consumer Reports, which declined to recommend the phone because of the reception, suggested slapping a piece of duct tape onto the sleek and shiny piece of tech.

Apple, with CEO Steve Jobs as point person, denied there was a major problem with the reception, even during a subsequent news conference where they offered free cases to cover up the spot where a "death grip" caused the phone's signal to weaken.

Over time and a handful of software updates, the complaints faded and talk of the iPhone 4 turned to features such as its FaceTime video chat, high-resolution screen and ultrathin design.

But it was a wild ride.

Escalation of the smartphone wars

Speaking of smartphones, 2010 was when that space got really interesting.

No longer was the iPhone able to just go head-to-head with the stalwart workhorse of the gadget world, the BlackBerry.

A new phone running Google's Android system seemed to pop up every week. The Droid II. The Droid X. The HTC Evo and the Samsung Galaxy S were just a few.

In fact, Android phones outsold iPhones during the first half of the year and, with several new releases, will no doubt keep up that pace through year's end.

The more time we spend online, the more of a digital footprint we leave. And should someone savvy be so inclined, the easier it becomes to track that print.

On Facebook, every new change seemed to bring privacy concerns. Whether it was the Facebook Places feature, which lets users tell others where a friend is, or changes in users' default settings that sparked enough backlash to lead Facebook to adjust its privacy controls, the site was clearly home base for people concerned about having their information stolen, sold or otherwise used without their permission.

Privacy concerns cropped up again late in the year when Gawker's sites were hacked and users' e-mails and passwords were accessed. Other users expressed security fears about sharing their locations on Foursquare and other similar services.

Internet-freedom advocates wanted stronger protections that would guarantee service providers won't be able to pick and choose which content (oh, say, their own) gets delivered quickest and which lags behind.

They also fear big businesses and wealthy individuals will one day be able to pay for better service than everybody else.

Then there are the critics, mainly Republicans, who think the FCC shouldn't have gotten involved in business on the Web at all.

The final chapter on this one hasn't been written. The regulations will almost certainly be challenged in court. And if they survive, January will see the GOP take control of the U.S. House and strengthen its minority in the Senate, meaning the whole plan could get blown to bits by new legislation.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

There's an expression in the real estate industry; when Starbucks opens in the neighbourhood it's already too late to buy in.

Barry Diller has represented the "Starbucks" factor in media and entertainment since he came on to the scene in the 70's as CEO of Paramount Pictures. Diller has always been a little ahead of the curve, spotting trends and capitalizing on them before the rest of the pack.

More recently Diller has launched The Writer's Network. Someone as cunning as Diller knows that the key to winning media battles is not owning the highway, because the map keeps changing all the time. The key is owning the content. With The Writer's Network he appears to be mapping a pathway to creating thousands of articles in a specific content niche, home and garden. Writer's go on his site, and for a "small" fee, create articles about specifically requested topics. In the technology of google, which appears to be the most important and complex road war, articles are the independent tributaries that guide people to the sources.

We'll watch with interest what the next move is from a man who doesn't know the meaning of retirement.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

New data out indicates that the US growth rate is the slowest it's been since the great depression. Troubled times tend to make people think carefully about adding more mouths to feed, and these past two years have given reason for pause for a lot of Americans.

Here are the fastest growing states (source - Ad Age Dec 22, 2010)

Here are the fastest growing states (by percentage):

State

Growth from 2000

Nevada

35.1%

Arizona

24.6%

Utah

23.8%

Idaho

21.1%

Texas

20.6%

Michigan showed the only loss. No states were expected to lose residents but North Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana, Rhode Island, and Michigan had less than 1% growth in the last decade compared to 9% nationwide.

Today's release has its biggest implications for the US. Congress as it will determine the apportionment for the U.S. House of Representatives. But for marketers it confirms trends we have seen in the American Community Survey releases with warmer states in the South and West picking up residents from the North and East. The racial and ethnic breakdowns will start rolling out next year, giving marketers a detailed picture of the U.S. population by that tally.

These are numbers we'll follow even closer in the coming months trying to determine where the North American markets will be coming from, as all eyes continue to look towards China for continued strong international growth.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Motorola has confirmed it will unveil its' new tablet at the CES trade show in January, but based on leaks and rumours, it's expected to have a 10-inch screen, a 5-megapixel camera on the back, and a 2-megapixel camera on the front for video calls. Inside, look for a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 32GB of storage.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Just Because It's Popular Doesn't Mean It Has To Fizzle. Just Ask Burger King.

I tend to suffer from a strange affliction -- I call it RES (Random Epiphany Syndrome). Case in point? The other day while rushing across Manhattan from one meeting to the next, I stopped in my tracks while briskly passing a man eating a Tendercrisp Sandwich in front of the Burger King on 7th Avenue.

Temporarily forgetting my meeting schedule amidst the incessant honking of taxi cabs that surrounded me, my mind raced to almost seven years prior, to simpler times when a man in a chicken suit left millions of people spellbound while surfing online.

Reading numerous--really, too many--"best practice" documents on viral content over the years, I've seen the statement "nothing lasts forever" more than a few times. This warning of "earned media wear-out" is typically displayed in parabolic chart form, where the X axis is based on some measurement of time and the Y axis is based on a form of engagement or views. Attention goes up and then sharply declines after a few weeks of buzz.

This is the wrong way to think.

Okay maybe not wrong, but you need to take much more into consideration before, during, and after your viral campaign in order to avoid the parabola effect. The goal of a viral campaign is that it doesn't perform well in the next 10 minutes; rather, that it have some long-term impact. For example, instead of simply uploading a video on YouTube, think about how your audience will find your content -- are you using the right keywords to provide stronger ties to your brand and your viral marketing effort through SEO? And once your content is discovered, how are you encouraging your audience to remain engaged? Also, is there a clear path of distribution?

The list is exhausting yet necessary if you have any chance at sparking sustainable viral content.

So what does this have to do with chicken sandwiches and my spontaneous thought the other day? Well, I was simply curious to know if the benefits of an almost seven-year-old viral project still proved valuable to Burger King.

This could be challenging. When the Subservient Chicken campaign launched, The co-developers of the campaign, the Barbarian Group were 15 people. The term "viral marketing" wasn't yet mainstream and to really make you feel old, the campaign launched a year prior to Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim going live with YouTube.

Yet even without the benefits of video aggregation platforms, Facebook and Twitter, the Subservient Chicken saw 15 million hits the first five days. The average time spent on the site was an amazing 5 minutes and 44 seconds. The campaign over the years has accrued more than 450 million hits, making it the Godfather of the "Will It Blends", "Old Spice Guys" and "Tipp-Ex" amongst many others that have captivated audiences.

Back to my original thought: Impressive as its statistics were years ago, does the campaign still provide a benefit to Burger King and how?

Well, impressive SEO results for one! Burger King is #4 on Google when searching the word "chicken" -- only below Wikipedia, recipes, and KFC. They're above Popeyes. Chick-fil-A, Church's, and Bojangles, which aren't even on the first page. Going 15 pages in and you won't even find McDonald's, Wendy's, Arby's, or Roy Rogers at all.

What's more, the Subservient Chicken content continues to be discovered through social-media channels such as Twitter, where sentiment is positive and frequency of mention is high.

The façade that is all too easily emulated and completely misunderstood is the "life curve" of a viral campaign. While some companies guarantee viral success, their definition of reaching goals need to be rethought and re-taught. Campaigns via viral marketing are designed to be provocative, yet how does that provocation impact your overall brand marketing strategy? If you start thinking "logistical versus parabolic" then you'll be in great shape. The assumption that all viral contain is good only for the short term amplified brand lift has to continue to be disproved. By embracing sustainability when it comes to your viral campaigns -- thinking through integration strategies, your landing pages, and your content, you too can have your cake, er, chicken sandwich and eat it too.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The first iAd for iPad will launch this afternoon for the upcoming Disney blockbuster "Tron Legacy." This is a preview of what Apple's mobile ad format will look like on the iPad, and the only iAd planned for Apple's tablet for this year, an Apple spokesman told Advertising Age.

The format, designed to maximize the ad potential of Apple's tablet computer, will be launched widely in early 2011 when other ads start flowing onto the platform.

Like its iPhone and iPod Touch predecessors, the first iPad iAd is chock-full of the rich graphics, touch navigation and video native to apps. The full-screen "Tron" ad, which will run in iPad apps such as TV Guide, includes close to 10 minutes of video, images from the movie, a theater locator with showtimes, and a preview of the movie soundtrack with the option to purchase on iTunes without leaving the ad. For the first time in any iAd, users will also be able to send email straight from within the ad.

Apple's mobile ads have previously only run on iPhones and iPhone Touch devices. The new format for iPad comes just as the tablet is expected to be the "it" gift this holiday season, especially since the product recently went on sale at major retailers like Walmart and Target for the first time. There are so far more than 7.5 million iPads worldwide, though when iAd for the iPad launches early next year, the ads will only be seen in the U.S.

While Apple has not released the total iAd audience, there are more than 125 million of the company's mobile devices worldwide, though the iAd audience is only a fraction of that figure: iAds on iPhones are only available in the U.S., U.K. and France, though they're coming to Germany and Japan in 2011.

"Disney and Apple are excited to debut the 'Tron Legacy' iAd today as a special preview of iAd for iPad, which launches next year," said the companies in a statement for Ad Age. "iAd brings 'Tron's' pulsing energy and vivid graphic style to iPad's stunning display, creating a truly immersive ad experience."

Apple launched iAd--and threw the iconic computer maker into the advertising business--in April, after the company acquired mobile ad network Quattro Wireless early this year. While some marketers and agencies have become frustrated with Apple's control of the iAd production process -- and its expense -- others, such as Nissan are coming back for repeat campaigns.

Earlier this year, Apple told marketers that iAd would roll out on the iPad in November, but marketers have noted that the production of the ads, managed by Apple, is a time-consuming process, though an Apple spokesman says many of the early hitches have been ironed out.

This is the second time that Apple has used a Disney film to demonstrate a new ad format. Disney's "Toy Story 3" was part of the initial launch of the iAd on iPhones and iPods in April. Mr. Jobs is Disney's largest single shareholder and serves on its board of directors.

Research firm IDC projects iAd will close the year with more than 8% U.S. mobile ad market share, to Google's nearly 60%.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

It's brutally cold outside today. We need a bit of comic relief. Thank you to Mrs Macs for this little ditty. A fun spot, and it hits home on all levels. Great editing, music, casting, and the little special effect at the end. Enjoy.

Friday, December 10, 2010

The internet has provided us all with a much bigger canvas to work on. In the past we were all forced to take a brilliant idea and squeeze it into 30 seconds or 15 seconds. With viral and web commercials, we are only limited by the attention span of the viewer. Having said that, we still want to be mindful that, in a multi stimuli world, we need to keep it moving. It is nice, however, to know you can take that extra second to provide the comic beat timing that is the difference between good and great.

Here's a perfect example, just in time for Christmas. Coke is a world class leader in "feel good" branding. Their new Christmas commercial is spectacular with effects, music, emotion and editing all working together seamlessly.

But look at the difference in experience between the one minute and 30 second. It's mind boggling.

60 second - 47 edits

And now the 30 second - 26 edits

It's still great content, but you can see how quickly the edits stamp the story through. You're almost out of breath watching it. 26 different edits in the 30 seconds moves this along at breakneck pace. we also lost the dog sequence, the two televisions clinking together, and the additional Santa sequences. It was the difference between saying "that was cool" and "wow..goosebumps."

That's it for this week - more holiday favourites from today and yesterday coming up in the coming weeks. Have a great weekend. And as always your comments and contributions are welcome.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Haven't a Clue? It's OK, You're Not Alone, and Here's Why

Next year, 80% of companies with 100 or more employees are expected to use social-media tools for marketing, up from 73% in 2010 and nearly double the usage rate in 2008, according to eMarketer. Surely that means big budget increases for next year, right?

In some cases the answer is yes. But for a lot of marketers, the budgeting question is getting harder to answer, not easier. If there's one thing I learned from researching my new report on "Social Media in the Marketing Mix," it's that many marketers have no idea how much they're budgeting on social -- or no good way to tabulate it. Here's why:

Too many cooks. As marketers continue to ramp up their social-media efforts, they are still using multiple resources, both internal and external, to create Facebook pages, manage Twitter feeds, develop viral videos and, of course, measure the impact.

Businesses remain torn over whether the best strategy is to manage social media through their corporate communications group, their marketing department, or a separate social-media group. Adding to the complexity: marketers are inundated with pitches from ad agencies, PR agencies and social-media vendors -- all hungry for new projects for 2011.

Social media is free, right? In some business sectors, the thinking still holds that social media is free, or nearly free. Although earned media -- the value that companies get when their marketing messages spread virally -- is indeed free publicity, there is almost always a cost associated with it, whether it be staffing, creative development or monitoring the results.

The good news is most marketers say they are increasing social-media spending next year. But the actual dollar amounts are all over the map.

In a worldwide survey by SEOmoz, a search-marketing company, more than half of the 9,000 respondents said their budget for outsourced social-media marketing was zero. Only 2.9% said they spent more than $5,000 per month.

On the other end of the spectrum is Altimeter Group, which surveyed 140 social-media strategists at major businesses for a report on the corporate social-media strategist function. One-third of respondents indicated that their company was spending between $100,000 to $500,000 in 2010, and 23% had a budget of $500,000 or more. These companies can be considered among the leading adopters of social media.

There are few benchmarks. Marketers don't agree on how much of their marketing budgets they should spend on social media. Surveys indicate that marketers spend 4% to 11% of their online marketing budgets on social media. This wide divergence is indicative of the fact that social-media marketing budgets are spread across multiple departments and groups, and that some types of companies and industries are more advanced than others.

What does this mean? Even if companies find it impossible to set a specific budget for social media, they can still take a holistic approach, incorporating it into their marketing planning from the start. At General Motors, budgets for social media next year will come from the brand marketing groups, according to social media chief Christopher Barger.

That means GM will do a better job of aligning its social strategy with the rest of its marketing strategy. And by shifting management to the brand groups, it does something more important: it gives social media a place at the adults' dinner table, not the kids' table.

That, in the end, may be a better strategy. Maybe marketers should worry less about how much they are spending on social media, or whether there should be a separate budget, and more about whether those dollars are working as hard as they can, producing real, quantifiable results.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Car marketers, having woken from their recession-induced ad slumber, are doubling down for Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas and setting the bar sky high for auto companies and their ad agencies to craft commercials unique enough to break through the clutter and capture viewers' attention.

Although car ads have long been a staple of the Big Game -- the premier U.S. TV broadcast that commands as much as $3 million per ad -- 2011 is shaping up to be the biggest auto-ad showdown in recent memory. As of press time, at least eight different auto manufacturers had purchased airtime. What's more, many of them are buying more ad time than they have in the past, and raising the ante with two or three commercials sprinkled throughout the broadcast.

Six car makers ran a combined five minutes and 30 seconds worth of ads in Super Bowl XLIV, up from five manufacturers running three minutes worth of commercials in 2009, according to WPP's Kantar Media.

Ad Age last week broke the news that BMW North America will return to the game after a decade, seeking to use the Super Bowl as a stage to launch a new slate of cars. General Motors, which had sat the past two games out, is back in with a focus on Chevrolet, top marketer Joel Ewanick told Ad Age earlier this year. Chrysler, the only U.S. automaker to show up in the last Super Bowl broadcast with a single ad for Dodge, is back in and this time wants at least two brands in the game, according to people familiar with the matter. Audi of America is making its fourth consecutive Super Bowl appearance and will be in the game's first commercial break.

Volkswagen, which aired one Super Bowl ad the last time around, will return with the purchase of an additional spot. Kia, which last ran a 30-second spot, will run a 60-second ad in Super Bowl XLV, while Hyundai Motor America will air three ads -- one more than it did in 2010. Mercedes-Benz will air one 60-second spot in the fourth quarter from Merkley & Partners, timed because the company has four new product launches next year and it is the 125th anniversary of the brand. "We're up nearly 20% and want to ride that wave ... it's a good way to start the year," said Donna Boland, corporate communications manager at Mercedes Benz USA.

Indeed. Many automakers are bouncing back, posting healthy sales results after bankruptcy filings, government bailouts and recalls, and like Mercedes, they have news to share about new models -- in BMW and GM's case, electric car models. It all adds up to car makers heftily contributing to the record sellout of the game. News Corp.'s Fox, which is broadcasting the game, booked 80% of its ad inventory by June, and by October the network announced the Super Bowl was sold out.

Now comes the real challenge: After spending all that money, how do you get your messages to cut through? Since so many car ads look the same, the chance of their being recalled by consumers is low. Most top broadcast-network shows have a car ad in nearly every commercial break, often showing an automobile or truck traveling on an open road or city street while pop music plays in the background.

Making things worse, car makers over the past two years have grown more conservative, trading humor and emotion for retail-oriented messages. Steve Wilhite, who spent 20 years at VW of America and was the client behind Arnold's famous "Drivers Wanted" campaign, describes car advertising these days as "absolute dreck," "mind-numbing" and "uninspiring."

In the history of Super Bowl advertising, car ads haven't been known for being very memorable. "Super Bowl car ads are pretty much DOA -- dead on arrival for ad likability," said Chuck Tomkovick, a marketing professor at University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.

Experts say carmakers will now have to work doubly hard to avoid familiar tropes or themes. "You must have a key, new, innovative, value-laden message to put out there," said George Cook, executive professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Rochester's Simon Graduate School of Business.

To combat the problem, ad-buying agencies representing many top automakers usually ask TV networks not to run ads from competitors during the same commercial break. Even so, these rules only apply to national commercials, and ads from local stations can sometimes run in the same ad pod. Ad buyers with knowledge of automobile marketing have often said that consumers' ability to recall individual car ads gets weakened as more of them air. A spokesman for Fox Sports declined to comment on how it might arrange Super Bowl ads from similar advertisers.

Friday, December 3, 2010

I'm researching diamond branding for a client right now. I was surprised by how many commercials have been done in black and white. I think there's an unofficial rulebook out there somewhere that states, "when trying to be ethereal, and high level, always shoot at least a portion of your commercial in black and white." Thus, the theme for today. Black and White commercials. Rule number two from same said rulebook, when shooting in black and white, always have at least one scene from a square in Paris or Rome.

Here's a beautiful commercial for Zane's Jewelers

This next commercial uses black and white but is proof that it doesn't guarantee a good execution. You may disagree, but this didn't work for me. Probably because it's completely focused on her with no actual reaction from him. And the messaging at the end is somewhat ambiguous.

Now this is how you shoot a black and white commercial.

And finally, a commercial that mixes in and out of black and white very effectively. Macy's. This is all in the editing, seamlessly flowing sequences and colour together. I love this commercial.

That's it for this week. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwire - November 2, 2010) - Free-to-Air analog mobile video is booming in Latin America and China, and digital mobile TV services are ramping up throughout Asia, as well as Latin America. In the US, new ATSC mobile DTV services are launching and will drive solid growth in a few short years. As a result, within a few years, In-Stat (www.in-stat.com) expects the worldwide market value of mobile TV tuners to exceed $400 million by 2014.

"The biggest problem for mobile TV services is that they are developing on a country-by-country basis," says Gerry Kaufhold, Principal Analyst. "The fragmentation of standards in different regions with different adoption rates, poses a challenge for technology manufacturers developing unique decoder technologies for each segment. However, the growing revenue opportunity is still appealing."

Some of the research findings include:

The CAGR for worldwide value of all mobile TV tuners will be over 12% from 2009 through 2014, and units will grow at nearly double that rate.

Unit shipments for digital mobile TV tuners are expected to triple from 2009 to 2014.

In-Stat's market intelligence combines technical, market and end-user research and database models to analyze the Mobile Internet and Digital Entertainment ecosystems. Our insights are derived from a deep understanding of technology impacts, nearly 30 years of history in research and consulting, and direct relationships with leading players in each of our core markets. In-Stat provides its research through reports, annual subscriptions, consulting and advisory services to inform critical decisions.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Why Google Seems to Favour Small Shops

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- With a brain trust of thousands, a bank account of billions and an insatiable appetite for acquisition, the Google beast is growing more gargantuan by the day. But for a company that's got "plexes" instead of offices and has spent years wooing business from adland's biggest players, when it comes to the marketing of its own products and services, Google thinks tiny.

For years, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company wasn't much of what Madison Avenue would call a client. It occasionally tapped small ad agencies, like Naked Communications and the now-defunct Toy, but wasn't one to ask for much outside help. While most of its advertising today is birthed in the Google Creative Lab, led by former agency executives Andy Berndt and Robert Wong, the company readily admits it's leaning more than ever on outside agencies.

Since late 2009, it's handed a ton of promotional work for the Chrome browser to Bartle Bogle Hegarty, but is also entrusting marketing projects to many smaller outfits, like Johannes Leonardo and Big Spaceship out of New York and Cutwater, Goodness Mfg. and Muhtayzik/Hoffer on the West Coast.

The last, a San Francisco-based shop with just 20 staffers that represents one of the newest additions to Google's agency roster, was unknown -- even in ad circles -- until September when it released a video to promote Google Mobile and location search for GPS-enabled devices. Dubbed "extremely bizarre" by Mashable, the online ad featured a man uttering the word "pizza" over and over again.

Taking a route different from rivalsGoogle's strategy of cherry-picking a variety of small agencies for work contrasts with the strategy of its competitors in search. Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo spend millions in measured-media dollars a year with established agencies like WPP's JWT and Omnicom Group-owned Goodby Silverstein & Partners, respectively. Google's overall measured media spending is relatively low, with the bulk of its advertising appearing on Google's own properties. But it is rising. Though the company spent a total of $11 million on U.S. measured media in 2009, in the first nine months of 2010 that number more than doubled to $26 million, according to Kantar Media.

Google the marketer would rather not be pigeonholed as having a fetish for small shops. That could be because after years of trying to convince Madison Avenue that it is their friend, Google the media company has made serious headway, striking up strategic relationships with agencies and holding companies such as Publicis Group and Omnicom Media Group. Google's agency team -- which is largely focused on befriending and working on ad solutions with the ad community -- has grown to 100-strong under Torrence Boone, former CEO of Enfatico, the agency built under WPP to service Dell.

"We work with agencies of all sizes," Mr. Wong, the executive creative director of Google Creative Lab, told Ad Age. " What matters is that the people, the work and how the work gets done is a good fit with our unique Google culture. And as we do more work, we're continuing to look for more agencies to help."

Google as a clientWhile the agencies contacted for this piece declined to comment because of client confidentiality, a few ad execs familiar with the Google account revealed what the search giant is like on the client side of the table. In short? Demanding but very collaborative, and let's just say not the biggest tipper.

"They don't want agency-client relationships in any traditional sense," said one executive familiar with Google. For one thing, its briefing process is different; agencies don't work in a creative vacuum and then return to present a dog and pony show of creative ideas. Rather, "sometimes agencies spend a few days there and it's really collaborative," this person said. "It's unlike other clients because of their capabilities internally."

Agencies who work with Google these days are also tasked with behind-the-scenes work, and might have the chance to help the company develop products and shape platforms and user experiences. And for that reason, too, a smaller shop may make sense. For secretive Google, the fewer folks privy to the next big project it's plotting, the better.

Despite the search giant's size, it moves like a startup -- so smaller, more nimble partners tend to have an easier time keeping up. And with the notable exception of that Super Bowl spot last year (bought with the help of Horizon Media, a smaller, indie shop), Google doesn't spend much on advertising, so a bigger shop isn't likely to devote the same resources a smaller one might.

Much of the stuff Google has been selling so far is essentially free to consumers, and the most important component of any creative advertising, said another executive, "is about making [Google's products] accessible and easy to understand ... you don't have to spend a lot of money on that."

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Actor John Slattery, who plays Roger Sterling on AMC's hit ad-industry drama "Mad Men," is the latest speaker to join the lineup for Ad Age's ME* Conference in New York on Tuesday, Nov. 30. He will be interviewed on stage by Piers Morgan, who will take over for Larry King on CNN in January.

Mr. Slattery has become a known face since he started playing TV's most acerbic adman and perhaps nowhere has he become more infamous than in the ad industry, which has followed his character's every antic. On "Mad Men," Roger Sterling is an old-school, hard-drinking agency exec who had a rough run of it in the most recent season, losing both the star account for which he was largely responsible, Lucky Strike, and respect within the agency. But in real life, John Slattery is on a roll.

The actor, who lives in New York and is married to Talia Balsam, who plays his ex-wife on "Mad Men," has been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Sterling each of the last three years. More recently, he provided star wattage for Lincoln's new ad effort, starring in its "Smarter Than Luxury" campaign, from WPP's Team Detroit. His film credits include "Iron Man 2," "Flags of Our Fathers," "Charlie Wilson's War" and "Reservation Road."

This past season, in addition to playing Roger Sterling, Mr. Slattery directed a pair of "Mad Men" episodes. His character spent much of the fourth season working on his memoirs, which have since been published as a real-life tome titled "Sterling's Gold."

Mr. Morgan, meanwhile, is set to take over Larry King's prime-time hour on CNN in January with a show that will air in 200 countries around the world. The former British tabloid editor became famous among American audiences as a judge on "America's Got Talent" and as a winner of "Celebrity Apprentice." He's also been a judge of the U.K.'s immensely popular "Britain's Got Talent."

The ME* Conference: Media Evolved takes place Nov. 30, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York. The day-long event is devoted to exploring the changing definition of media and how marketers are using it. It will feature speakers including ESPN President George Bodenheimer, Kraft Senior VP-Marketing Strategy and Communications Dana Anderson, McCann Worldgroup CEO Nick Brien and GE Global Executive Director of Advertising and Branding Judy Hu, among others.

Messrs. Morgan and Slattery will take the stage to close out the event, which leads into Ad Age's first Media Vanguard Awards ceremony and cocktail party. The MVAs will honor 55 of the most forward-thinking media innovations of the past year. Martha Stewart will also be on hand to accept the first MVA Lifetime Achievement honor.

Friday, November 26, 2010

I attended the Globe and Mail Cannes 2010 screening last night at the Eglinton Grand in Toronto. It's an annual creative shot in the arm. Canada continues to be a leader in cutting edge creative. The recent international acquisition of Taxi and other signs point to Canada as an ongoing creative force to be reckoned with on the international advertising scene. Here are a couple Canadian hilights as well as an international favourite from Satchi and Satchi New York.

And holdover favourite, and past featured creative on the Friday CEBlog, the return of the Doghouse. This was one of the top virals of 2008, and achieved huge success last year with the follow up ad. JCPenney achieved a very significant bump in jewelery business as a result of this viral.Credits:Saatchi & Saatchi, New YorkExecutive Creative Director: Amie ValentineCD/Copywriter: Josh RubinCD/Art Director: Jason Musante

That's it for this week. As always, your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

YouTube, Vimeo and the like are getting some new contenders. Unlike Facebook, who appears to be a resounding winner in it's very unique category, video portals are vulnerable to the right challengers. Here's a great article from the Mashable Video department written by Christina Warren.

MASHABLE

Here at Mashable, we’re big fans of web video, and we’re not alone. People spend more and more time online watching (and many times, rewatching) video content, both user-generated and commercial.

Even five years ago, during the early days of startups like YouTube and Blip.tv, sifting through content to find the best the web had to offer could be difficult. After all, with 24 hours of video uploaded every minute just to YouTube, there’s a lot of content out there.

In today’s landscape, where we have not only a plethora of user-generated content, but also mounds of new and catalog content from commercial publishers, finding the best in online video can take a lot of time and effort. After all, for every “David After Dentist,” there are a thousand other videos of children that are neither as cute nor as doped up on novocaine.

Fortunately, more and more sites and services are stepping up to help sift through the vast, expansive wasteland of online video. Here are five of our favorite sites for not just finding the goods, but also making it easy to share and exchange videos with friends and family members.

When ShortForm soft-launched this June, we liked the human and software aggregated approach to finding video and putting it into auto-play channels. The site has lots of pre-configured channels in categories like “Super Cute” or “Facebook Hits” that pull in content that is popular on a certain service or all feature things of a similar genre.

Last week, ShortForm re-launched with a hot new redesign that makes it easier than ever to create your own curated video channels. You easily link your Facebook and YouTube accounts to ShortForm and pull in your favorite YouTube videos, as well as Facebook videos you or your friends have “liked.” That makes creating custom channels super easy.

What we appreciate about ShortForm — especially with the new UI — is that it’s easy to just sit back and watch video, one right after the other, and to skip through to various channels and videos. While much of ShortForm’s content is sourced from YouTube, the browsing experience is, in many respects, superior to YouTube. Creating your own channels is also easier and more attractive than doing so in YouTube.

Because you can subscribe to channels curated by ShortForm employees and regular users, there’s plenty of content to find and discover.

Created by the same people who brought you Uncrate, Devour is a hand-curated collection of quality web video. Every weekday, Devour team members scour the web and post the most awesome clips.

You can browse via channels — stuff like “Art & Design,” “Animals” and “Movies” — you can search, or you can just click aimlessly on the homepage.

What we love about Devour is that the site is super clean. Most of the video is in HD and you can safely view Devour on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. The sources for Devour come from across the web, but you’ll see a lot of content from Vimeo and other less viral video sites.

MovieClips.com is pretty rare in the online video world: It’s a place where you can find completely legal, licensed movie clips from thousands of top Hollywood films. Even better, you can watch these clips from anywhere in the world and you can embed them into your own blog.

What makes MovieClips a great place to find online video, however, is that the team of editors has started to create top 10 lists and mashups based on certain topics. This is a great way to get bite-sized chunks of content in a specific area.

Beyond just the mashups and lists, each clip at MovieClips.com is tagged with all kind of data — like the actor, the director, the year, props used in a scene, genre, lines of dialog, etc. When you view a clip or view a collection of clips from a film, you can explore more clips that are related, directly or indirectly, with what you are watching.

This is a great way to discover content and either be reminded of a great movie or get interested in one you might want to watch later.

We once described Redux as a time-wasters dream. This is still pretty true. The site, which turns status updates, RSS feeds and shared links into an ongoing stream of entertaining content, isn’t just for video, but video is where Redux really shines.

Like ShortForm, you can create and curate your own video channels on Redux. You can also join other channels and add content to them. These channels can then be played in TV Mode, where you get an endless stream of video from selected or randomized channels, presented in a very Leanback-esque manner.

The user- and employee-generated channels are pretty great; you can find some really cool and funny stuff this way. What makes Redux special is that it can also scan the links that your friends share on Facebook or Twitter and suck out the videos from those links so that you can view them easily. This is a great time saver because, instead of having to manually click each link to see what content is embedded inside, you can just eyeball content and decide what to watch. For the adventurous, you can even be delivered a stream of videos shared by your friends.

Redux also has its own Boxee app, which makes it possible to view content on your television.

StumbleUpon is a great way to discover new and interesting websites and articles, but did you also know it’s a way to find great web video? Last month, StumbleUpon beefed up its video discovery service, adding in recommendations from your friends, instead of just the most popular or highest-rated content across the site.

Additionally, StumbleUpon now aggregates content from not just video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, but also more commercial content like Hulu, CollegeHumor and TED.

Video is presented in a very clean, full-browser presentation. You can thumb-up or thumb-down content, switch to specific types of channels and even leave your own comments or recommendations. Plus, if you use the StumbleUpon add-ons, you can thumb-up your own favorite videos as you discover them across the web.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Is Video Blogging catching on? According to comScore it definitely is.

In August, more than 161 million viewers watched an average of 157 videos per viewer, according to data from the comScore Video Metrix service. A whopping 81.6 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video and the average online video viewer saw 9.7 hours of video in August.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Mashable had a meaningful article on the percentage of people who can't relate to down time.There are conflicting views on the positives and negatives of being "reachable" all the time. Owning my own business I appreciate being on the road, with friends, associates, and knowing if the blackberry is calm, I can relax and all is well. A few weeks back a major client had a server issue and was able to reach me on a Saturday morning. This could have been an even bigger issue the logger the server was down. I was able to make two additional calls to correct the situation and right an issue. So I'm a big believer in nipping issues in the bud and occasionally "blackberry peeking" when on holidays.

Here's the Mashable article for further food for thought. Written by Radhika Marya

A new survey from Xobni and Harris Interactive says 59% of employed American adults check their e-mail during holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of the 59%, more than half (55%) check their work e-mails at least once a day, while about 28% check their e-mails multiple times throughout the day.

The survey was conducted online among 2,179 adults, 18 and older, earlier this month.

The survey also delved into how these workers feel about receiving these e-mails while on a holiday. Forty-one percent of those who receive work-related e-mails during time off say that they’re typically annoyed or frustrated to see the messages in their inbox. It looks like younger adults — specifically, 56% in the 18 to 34 demographic — are most likely to express these sentiments. Meanwhile, only 39% of those between 35 and 44, and 30% of those in the 45-54 age range, admit to being annoyed by work-related e-mails during the holidays. At least 12% of respondents admit to feeling dread.

But despite negative feelings, 42% of those who check their work e-mail also say they feel it’s important to stay up-to-date. Some believe it helps ease workloads — and a small number (19%) admit that the e-mails occasionally serve as a welcome distraction. Men are most likely to check their work e-mails during breaks. And as far as regions are concerned, those in the southern U.S. — 63%, in fact — are more likely to check their inboxes.

These new findings seem to be in line with a previous Xobni and Harris Interactive survey, which we reported on in September. The earlier survey looked into the habits of 2,200 workers in the U.S. and the UK. In that one, at least 50% of Americans admitted to checking e-mail during vacation days.

Monday, November 22, 2010

New Units Will Give Consumer's Choice -- Even if That Choice Is to Opt Out

The new ad units on Youtube will give consumer's the choice to skip through - even if that choice is to opt out. What it ultimately does is create a more consumer friendly environment so viewing/surfing will continue to rise exponentially on Youtube. It's similar to the business model Facebook used in the early years, creating a sense of community and carefully injecting the monetizing slowly and meticulously.

From Adage - Nov 22, 2010 (Irina Slutsky)

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- Whether it's walking out of the room, fast-forwarding on a DVR or paying for premium cable, consumers are used to having choice with ads on TV. Soon, they'll have a different kind of choice on YouTube.

YouTube is expected to pull the wraps off several new ad units designed to give users the choice of which ad they watch -- even if that choice is to watch none at all.

The ads, which YouTube calls TrueView, give viewers a choice of three different ads to watch. Users can also skip the ad altogether and the advertiser isn't charged.

For short-form content, a user may get a TrueView in-stream ad, which she can skip if she wishes. For longer-form videos, YouTube is planning to give users the choice of watching a video with ad breaks or ad-free after watching one of three video ads first. Users choosing the long-form video with ad breaks may or may not get a "skippable" ad.

All of these formats are expected to roll out in the next few weeks. YouTube wouldn't say which advertisers had tested the format, but did say at least two political candidates had tried the new service.

The notion of choosing from a selection of ads isn't a new one. Hulu filed a patent for its "Ad Selector" service back in 2007 and has reported it's seen a high success rate in allowing viewers to pick their own ad. Hulu limits the choose-your-own ad inventory to about 10% of its videos.

But Hulu does not allow users to skip ads, nor do any of the other sites distributing full-length TV on the web. In an interview, Phil Farhi, a Google senior product manager, said it was initially a tough sell to advertisers struggling to find ways to find enough online inventory to match their TV buys.

"Some advertisers had initial gut reaction of, 'Wait, you're gonna let users skip my ad?'" Mr. Farhi said. "But the thing that tips them over from that gut reaction is you're not paying for those skipped ads, and it's a system that allows you to reach that opted-in engaged audience at scale."

Right now, YouTube has by far the most viewers, but not a lot of long-form premium content, meaning comparatively few videos on which to place TV-style video ads.

ComScore's October numbers show that Hulu served more than 1 billion video ad impressions. All Google sites -- including YouTube -- combined? A mere 170 million. Hulu's long-form content allows for many more video ads, and people spend a lot more time on Hulu watching shows such as "Project Runway" and "Lost."

Tubemogul reports that on an average, only of 4.48% of YouTube's daily top 100 videos carried a pre-roll ad, 52.4% have no ads and 42.5% have only lower-third banner ads.

Hulu announced it is expected to earn $240 million in revenue this year. YouTube's revenue is expected at about twice that amount, but includes big homepage display buys, a crutch that YouTube reluctantly relies on in its pursuit of profitability.

The choose-your-own-ad format itself has received a big endorsement from Vivaki, the research and planning arm for Publicis Groupe. "We found that people wanted more choice," said Tracey Scheppach, senior VP of innovation at Vivaki, whose researchers spent 1 million hours with 47 million consumers across 60 video publishers -- including AOL, Yahoo, and Hulu -- to get its research done, and estimated that this type of add could pump $100 million into the online video ad industry.

Online video ad spending is expected to jump from $1.5 billion in 2010 to $2.1 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer.

Ms. Sheppach believes there's enough premium content on YouTube to make it work. "I have a 2-year-old, so this morning it was, 'Mommy, giraffe!' so I searched for 'giraffe' on YouTube and what came up was an Animal Planet video," Ms Sheppach said. "Now that's premium content owned by Discovery Channel. Advertisers would pay for that."

YouTube plans to start off TrueView with advertisers who have a managed account at Google -- those marketers with dedicated channels. But eventually, as with everything at Google, the platform is meant to scale and automate and be available to everyone.

Eventually, Mr. Farhi said, YouTube's promoted videos can potentially become a TrueView ad if they're short enough in length. There are tens of thousands of promoted videos, which are paid for by marketers, that come up on the side bar of YouTube next to a viewers' watched video. And because YouTube is the second biggest search engine online, promoted videos are also part of the search ads that come up on YouTube.

Mr. Farhi said that advertisers can use YouTube as a focus group, testing out an ad to see how it does before they make it into a TV campaign. With TrueView, they'll be able to immediately see how well the ad is doing with the public and if they need to tweak it.

"You can imagine getting to the point where someone comes to us and says here's a video, here's how much I'm willing to pay for an opted-in engaged view and we go and find the audience," Mr. Farhi said.